


Road Trip

by alyjude_sideburns



Series: Everything's Jake Series [13]
Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Established Relationship, Kid Fic, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-02
Updated: 2014-02-02
Packaged: 2018-01-09 13:30:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,722
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1146564
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alyjude_sideburns/pseuds/alyjude_sideburns
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Blair has the joy of traveling by car with Jake to the Ellison cabin</p>
            </blockquote>





	Road Trip

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place in the Jake Universe. It follows "A Special Anniversary". Last revised in 2011

 

 

"Jim, stop obsessing. This is an easy fix. You drive your father and Sally to the summer house now, and I'll pick Jake up at mom's after court tomorrow and join you, all right?"

"Are you sure?" Jim asked, obviously worried.

"You need to get your dad to the lake house now and you know it. Doctor's orders. Between his fall down the house stairs, and the stress of saving Ellison & Sons from the hostile take-over, your dad needs some peace and quiet."

"You're right - you're always right. I just wanted to be in court with you…."

"You know damn well that my testimony probably won't even be necessary - that Joel's will be more than enough. So do what you need to do and Jake and I will join you guys early tomorrow evening."

"You don't think it's strange that one of the things we're doing to help my father rest is include a five-year-old in the weekend?"

Chuckling, Blair shook his head. "Not at all.  Besides, your dad insisted and Jake's never seen the lake house. And we both know from past experience that Jake is excellent medicine."

"Very true," Jim said as he absently scratched skin that no longer itched following a drug bust gone bad a few weeks earlier. Blair swatted at his hand to stop the scratching and Jim grinned sheepishly. "All right, we'll go with your plan. Although, you're the one who'll be stuck with Jake - in a car - for over two hours." Jim waggled his eyebrows in a great imitation of Blair's eyebrow waggle.

"He'll fall asleep within fifteen minutes," Blair said confidently.

Jim just snorted.

***

"you sure we're going?"

"Yes, Jake, I'm sure."

"'cuz my gampa needs me," Jake added for emphasis.

"Yes, he does, which is why, the minute I'm done with court, I'll pick you up from your Nomi's and we'll be on our way."

"i still don't understand why i couldn't go with poppy," he pouted.

"Because you can't miss school, and they needed time to get your grandfather settled _and_ you already know this because you've asked three times."

"but maybe your answer will change," Jake said hopefully.

"Sorry, Hoss, ain't happening. You already said goodbye to poppy, he's on his way to your grandfather's and they're going to drive to the lake house. Then I'm going to take you to school tomorrow, your Nomi will pick you up and then I'll come get you as soon as I can and we'll hit the road."

"why's it called the lake house?" Jake asked in the sudden change of topic that was typical behavior of late.

"Why do you think it is?"

"because it's on the ocean?" Jake asked, hiding his grin.

"Yep, that's it exactly. Because it's on the ocean."

"daddddeeeeee, it's on a _lake_ and that's why it's called the lake house, silly."

"No, no, I'm sure it's on the ocean," Blair said as he handed Jake his pj tops.

Taking it and pulling it on over his head, Jake mumbled, "no, no, no, lake house means house on lake, but," his head reappeared, "is the house floating on the lake, daddy?"

Ah, so they were back to real questions. Blair grinned and said, "No, but it overlooks one and if you're very good, poppy might take you out on it in your grandfather's boat."

Eyes doing the whole saucerville move, Jake said, "boat? i can go out on a boat?"

"Yep. Now, it's story time, and then sleep."

Jake jumped off the bed, ran over to his bookshelf, pulled down the current book they were reading, and hurried back. He jumped back in, snuggled down, got jakey settled, handed the book to Blair, and said, "okay, you may begin now, daddy."

"Thank you so much, Jake," Blair said as Goody jumped onto the bed as if ready for the story too.

Blair, getting the message loud and clear, started reading.

***

Blair tore off his tie and stuffed it into his pocket. Thank God it was over and he hadn't been needed to testify. He checked his watch with a groan.

"That went well," Joel said as he came alongside Blair. "I think Jenkins is toast."

"Yep."

"It's late though. That's the problem with Judge Wagner - he's not a clock watcher."

They both chuckled at that and then Joel added, "I'll fill Simon in if you want to head out. I know you have a drive ahead of you with Jake."

"Would you, man? I'd appreciate it. This way I can head straight to Mom's. Thanks, Joel."

"No problem. Go. Have a good weekend and see you and Jim on Monday."

Blair slapped Joel on the back in thanks and, together, they headed for the elevators.

***

"You two have a good drive and call me when you get to the house, all right?"

"The minute we arrive, Mom," Blair assured his mother as Jake got into his seat and buckled himself in.

She leaned in, kissed her son, then opened the passenger door long enough to give Jake another kiss. "And don't worry, Goody will be fine here, Jake. I'll take good care of her."

"i know, my nomi, but i still think she should go with us."

"Of course you do, but you also know why it's better if she doesn't, don't you, Jake?" Blair asked as he started the engine.

Lower lip protruding, Jake nodded glumly. "i know. gampa needs rest and goody can be too enter..entergetic."

"Close enough - en-er-getic," Blair said with a smile.

Naomi closed the door and stepped back. "Drive safe and see you on Monday, sweetie," she said.

"You got it, Mom."

Blair checked the left side mirror and, when he was sure it was clear, pulled into traffic and they were on their way.

***

Twenty minutes into the drive and Jake was asleep. Now Blair just hoped it would last. On the other hand, if it did, then they'd never get him down for bed later. This could be considered a lose-lose proposition, damn it.

By the time he'd actually gotten out of the city, he'd almost decided to wake his son up, but nature calling did it for him as Jake stretched, yawned and said, "gotta pee, daddy."

Stop number one on the great road trip.

***

"can i have some juice?"

"We have juice in the car," Blair said while Jake washed his hands in the restroom.

"can i have some fritos?"

"We have apple chips in the car," Blair said while Jake dried his hands.

"can i have--"

"Jake, do we want to get to the lake house tonight?"

"yup!"

"Then let's go."

"but what about my dinner?"

"Ah, now that's no problem. In another thirty minutes, we'll come to a place called Beanie and Cecil's and they have the best burgers in the whole world."

"better than wonderburger?" Jake asked as Blair guided him out of the bathroom.

"Way better."

"'kay, but can i have some juice 'til then?"

"You can indeed."

They got back into the car and, while Jake got himself settled, Blair got the juice box from the cooler on the seat next to him, got the straw stuck into it, and handed it back to his son.

"thank you, daddy."

Eyebrow quirked at the sudden politeness, Blair said, "You're welcome, Jake."

"fritos would go awfully good with this, though…."

Blair rolled his eyes and pulled out of the parking lot.

***

Thirty minutes later, as promised, Blair spotted Beanie's and Cecil's and pulled into the crowded parking lot. The good news was that just as he pulled in, someone using the car hop service, backed out. This was what Blair was hoping for - since Beanie's and Cecil's was an old fashioned diner that still had old time 'to your car' service famous in the 50's. He swung in and said, "Okay, this is a very special place - so special, that you get to climb over the seat and sit up front with me."

Excited at that prospect, Jake nevertheless asked, "but don't we go inside?"

"Nope. This is an old fashioned diner with what they call 'car hops'. A waitress is going to skate over here--"

"skate?!"

"Yep, skate. She'll take our order and then bring it to us on a tray that fits right on the side of the door and we eat in the car."

That was all it took. A split second later, Jake was out of his safety seat and seated next to Blair, on his knees so he could check everything out. And sure enough, there were waitresses on skates with trays of food and it was so cool, his eyes bounced all over the place. And then of course, a cute, pert waitress skated up to the car with menus and the attachable trays.

"Good evening, and welcome! The specials are on the right inside corner. When you're ready to order, place this yellow card on the dash and honk." She handed Blair the menus, attached the tray to Blair's door and, with a questioning look at the other side, caught Blair's wink and nod, and immediately skated over and attached a tray for Jake, which thrilled him no end.

Blair handed Jake his menu, knowing he'd order what he always did when hamburgers were involved - and he didn't disappoint - he perused the menu as though it were War and Peace and then said, "i think i'll have a cheesyburger, fries extra crispy and a chocolaty malt."  
Nope, no surprise there. "Sounds good. I think I'll have the barbecued chicken sandwich, onion rings and - you know, that malt sounds good. We can make your other dad jealous."

"yipppppeeee!"

Laughing, Blair put the card in sight and gave the horn a honk. Their waitress skated over, took their order and, with a wave, skated away. Ten minutes later, she was serving them on their trays and Jake thought he was in heaven. Of course, he had to sit on his knees to reach everything, but he didn't mind at all. He chomped, dipped his fries in the malt, slurped and all the while, kept his eyes on the skating waitresses. When they were both done, Blair gave another honk, their waitress skated over, collected the trays and, a few moments later, skated back with the bill. Blair paid, thanked her for the excellent service, and then jerked a thumb toward the back seat - indicating it was time for Jake to get back into his safety seat.

Grumbling only slightly, he climbed back into the rear, managed _not_ to kick his father, and then got resettled in his seat. Blair started the car, backed out carefully, and they were on their way with another hour of driving ahead of them.

***

"I wish we could get out on this ferry, but it's not allowed, Hoss. So you'll just have to watch from the window."

"but this means we're almost there, right?"

"Yep, another twenty or thirty minutes."

"then it's time for singing - you _must_ sing with me."

"Oh, I must, must I?"

"absolutleeeeee!"

"So what do you have in mind?"

"the zoo song?"

Blair wrinkled his nose at the idea but nodded. "Okay, on three…one-two-three…."

Voices mingling, Jake's high and sweet, Blair's low and earthy, they started singing.

_"I don't want to throw up, I just feel like I do;_   
_I ate so much terrific stuff, today at the zoo._   
_I don't want to throw up, but my tummy's kinda sick,_   
_from carmel corn and peanut chews, and corn-dogs on a stick...._   
_And ice cream, soda, and chocolate bars, and cotton candy, pink and blue;_   
_I don't want to throw up, 'cause, golly, if I do, we won't be goin' back to the zoo!_   
_Oh, drat! Oh! ... SPLAT! ... Oh, phoo! I guess I over-ate at the zoo."_

Jake started giggling as they finished and immediately went into another song, which Blair quickly joined in.

_"I went to the animal fair, the birds and the beasts were there,_  
 _The big baboon by the light of the moon was combing his auburn hair._  
 _The monkey bumped the skunk and sat on the elephant's trunk;_  
 _The elephant sneezed and fell to his knees, and that was the end of the monk!"_

The ferry landed at the island and slowly, with a still giggling Jake, Blair drove off and turned right. He figured there was just enough time for one more song before reaching the Ellison summer home.

"Okay, kiddo, one more and I'm thinking…the camp song. You remember it?"

Jake started bouncing in his seat and clapping his hands. "my favorite, daddy! let's go!"

"All right - here we go again…one-two-three…."

_"Hello muddah, hello faddah, here I am - at Camp Granada…._  
 _Camp is very entertaining, and they say we'll have some fun if it stops raining._  
 _I went hiking - with Joe Spivy - but he developed - poison ivy_  
 _You remember Leonard Skinner - he got ptomaine poisoning last night after dinner._

_"All the counselors hate the waiters - and the lake has - alligators  
And the head coach wants no sissies - so he reads to us from something called Ulysses._

_"Now I don't want - this should scare ya - but my bunkmate - has malaria  
and you remember - Jeffrey Hardy - they're about to organize a searching party…."_

***

Jim sat on the porch, listening for the sound of Blair's car. He checked his watch and figured they should be here any minute. He cocked his head and concentrated…and then started grinning as he heard his partner and son - singing….

"Take me home, oh muddah, faddah, take me home, I hate Camp Granada  
Don't leave me out in the forest where I might get eaten by a bear.  
Take me home - I promise I will not make noise, or mess the house with other boys.  
Oh please don't make me stay - I've been here - one - whole - day.

"Dearest faddah, darling muddah, how's my precious - little bruddah  
Let me come home, if you miss me - I would even let Aunt Bertha hug and kiss me.  
Wait a minute, it's stopped hailing, guys are swimming, guys are sailing - playing baseball, gee that's better….

"Muddah, faddah kindly disregard this letter."

Jim couldn't help it, he started laughing uproariously; very glad his father was already in bed in the back of the house. But the screen door opened and Sally stuck her head out.

"What's so funny, Jimmy?"

"Blair and Jake. They're almost here and they were singing a song - a very funny song."

"I'm sure they sounded cute too," she said as she sat down on the bench next to him.

"Oh, yeah. Wait…here they come now."

And sure enough, headlights could now be seen as the car made its way up the road to the house. Both Jim and Sally jumped up to welcome them.

***

"but i can't _see_ the lake - how do i know it's there?"

"It's dark, there's no moon due to the clouds, but when you wake up in the morning, it will be the first thing you see," Jim said as he pulled Jake's jeans off.

"promuse?"

"Promise. We'll all have a great breakfast and then Blair and I'll take you down to the edge of the lake and you can check it out, all right?"

"'kay, but what about gampa?"

"You'll see him in the morning.  He was tired from the drive so went to bed early. But he's looking forward to breakfast out on the patio tomorrow with you, so don’t worry."

"'kay, but i should be able to stay up a while longer - i slept in the car."

"For twenty whole minutes," Blair added as he walked in with a glass of water for Jake. He set it on the nightstand and said, "Daddy and I are right next door, you don't even have to go out into the hall, just go through that door there, all right?"

"should i knock first?"

"That's always a good idea," Jim said, grinning.

They exchanged all manner of kisses and hugs, tucked Jake in and said their goodnights, but just as they walked out the door, Jake said, "night, muddah and faddah!"

***

"What are you thinking?" Blair asked as they sat together on the patio.

"How he'd better have meant that this time - _you're_ the mother and _I'm_ the father."

"Fat chance, man. Fat chance."

"Damn."

The End

 


End file.
